Wacom goes wireless with their Intuos 4 graphics tablet

Look Ma, no wires!

The Wacom Intuos 4 graphics tablet is highly regarded to be the best non-screen pen tablet on the market. Now Wacom has upgraded their popular medium model to go wireless via a Bluetooth connection.

The new Wacom Intuos 4 Wireless graphics tablet takes all the great things about the medium Intuos 4 — like its 2,048 levels of pen pressure, OLED ExpressKey display that shows you what function each button will perform and the multi-function touch ring — and adds a wireless connection and snapping pen holder. It also has two lights on the side of the device; yellow or green to show you charge status and blue to show connection. The active area on the wireless is listed as 8 x 5 inches which is smaller than the Intuos 4 Medium tablet which is listed at 8.8 x 5.5 inches. The tablet charges by USB when plugged into your computer and is operational during this time. When not used for 30 minutes the tablet will go into a dormant mode to save battery. Wacom rates battery life at up to 18 hours but that doesn’t include constant use.

CNET released a quick review on the Intuos 4 Wireless last night and found it very responsive and great to use. The reviewer found no glitches or delays (something that we were concerned about when we heard of the move to wireless). They did uncover one major concern however — if you don’t pay attention to your power state there is the possibility that you’ll ruin your battery and have to have it replaced (a $39-$49 charge). This could happen if you leave the tablet on for a week or longer which will result in a battery drain that will make it unable to recharge. The CNET reviewer also had a few difficulties with Bluetooth pairing both with Snow Leopard and Windows Vista.

The Wacom Intuos 4 Wireless graphics tablet is available for preorder now for $399. Currently you can find the non-wireless model on Amazon for around $320 so having wireless will cost you about $80 more.

Source: CNET via Slashgear